See the Exact Moment When the World's Biggest Cities Were Born

The world is urbanising faster than ever, with more than half of the planet’s population currently living in cities; that's more than any time in history. But when did this trend of “urbanisation” start? It turns out its roots go back much farther than we thought.

An interesting study by Yale University researchers published in Scientific Data last week examined the various ways that historians have measured the size and density of cities, from ancient civilisations to the megacities of today. In doing so, the researchers had to transcribe and organise information from dozens of older studies, some that had never before been digitised. They ended up amassing the most comprehensive urban population dataset ever, one which traces the development of cities for over 6,000 years.

Using that dataset, Max Galka made a video that plots each of these cities onto a world map precisely at the moment when the settlement achieved the population and density that would define it as a “city” (which is relative, of course). You can watch how the trend of urbanisation spreads across the planet over hundreds and hundreds of years, condensed into a few minutes.

Over at his website, Galka also plotted all the data onto a Mapbox map and included links to the raw data. He also points out the significance of the study, from a data standpoint. “In 1960, only 34 per cent of the world lived in cities. The most comprehensive collection of urban population data available, UN World urbanisation prospects, goes back only to 1950,” he noted. “It’s now possible to analyse the history of cities over a much longer timeframe.” [Metrocosm via CityLab]